Abstract

New earthquake energy spectra are proposed for practical design procedures using energy concepts. The spectra show integrated earthquake input energy of a unit mass for a given natural period and damping ratio. The total input energy and its partitioning in complex structures can be evaluated with the conventional procedure of modal analysis and the proposed spectra. Numerical simulations are carried out for inelastic structures to show the earthquake energy partitioning in time and in space. Inelastic earthquake response and earthquake energy partitioning of bridge structures with and without seismic isolators subjected to earthquake ground motions is evaluated to verify their engineering significance.